Sibling Rivalry Still Driving Van Halen

Eddie Van Halen took time out from touring to ruminate on the band and his guitar virtuosity with Rolling Stone. Turns out, the Van Halen brothers actually started out on opposite instruments: “I bought myself a drum kit, and my mom convinced my brother Alex to take flamenco-guitar lessons. I had a paper route to pay for the drum kit.”

“While I was out throwing papers, Alex got better than me on the drums, so I said, 'OK, f--- you. I'll play your guitar.'" The band's sometimes-suspect personal chemistry appears to be holding up: “The press made more of a stink out of shit than we did. Everybody kind of parts ways and tries to find their own niche … but no hurt feelings.” (More Eddie Van Halen stories.)